At least 10 police officers were injured in the protests
ROTTERDAM, Jan 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 10 police officers were injured in Rotterdam as protesters opposed to coronavirus lockdowns rioted in several Dutch cities.
More than 50 rioters were arrested, Rotterdam police chief Fred Westerbeeke told Dutch radio.
The port city was particularly hard-hit by the violence, with hundreds of mostly young people participating, some of them attacking police with fireworks and stones, looting stores and setting blazes.
Around the start of the coronavirus curfew, at 9 pm, groups of youths gathered in more than 10 cities for the second night in a row.
For hours they moved through city centres, leaving a trail of devastation. According to the police, the youth deliberately sought confrontation with officers.
Another centre of unrest was Hertogenbosch, a city about 100 kilometres south of Amsterdam, where stores were also looted and fires set. Attempts were also made to attack the hospital. “It was frightening for the staff,” hospital director Piet-Hein Buiting told regional radio.
The government imposed a curfew at the weekend – the first in the Netherlands since the start of the pandemic – with the aim of slowing the spread of coronavirus variants.
The curfew requires citizens to stay in their homes from 9 pm until 4:30 am every night, or risk a fine. — NNN-AGENCIES
